Idolatry, evolution and the sabbath

  Idolatry, evolution and the Sabbath

Worship the Creator

This is the third and last part of the first angel's message of Revelations 14. We have previously looked at the first command of this message, "fear God". Then we looked at the second command, "give glory to Him". Now let us look at this last command, which is written in
Revelations 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. God's third command is : "worship Him that made heaven, earth and sea". That is how the first angel's message ends. In other words, 'worship the Creator'.
Undoubtedly this message is very clear, but there are three concepts that we must consider from it.

First, God wants us to worship Him. Did he know that people would be worshiping other gods or things? Yes, of course he did. But you may say, well idol and image worship has been going on since the beginning. And that is true. But what if a religious group teaches to worship images and at the same time says it is a "Christian" religion, that professes to follow Jesus and His teachings, would that make it ok then ?
In the last book of the bible, in the last message for humanity, God plainly says, He is the only one who deserves and must be worship. Because, sadly many people are worshiping images and think God approves it. Many of them are very sincere, but sadly deceived. Please it is not my intention to offend anyone. There are many things wrong in this world and it is not always very popular to point them out. But God's word is very straightforward, so we should be as well, when we study it. So please, if you feel offended in any way in this article or any other, please keep reading and take it to consideration, because the truth shall set you free.
Let's review these verses to confirm this issue.

Deuteronomy 4:15 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,
16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,
17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,
18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.
19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

Wow ! You can't be more explicit than that. We must not make images of ANY kind, and we must not bow down to them. And did you notice He says, not even in the shape of a man or woman. As you all know there are religions that do this, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. But they don't follow God's word, the Holy Bible. But very sadly the catholic church teaches the adoration and worship of images shaped in the form of men and one woman and at the same time claims to follow the teaching of Jesus and the Holy Bible. We must understand that this teachings go against of what the bible teaches. And there are many other verses that we can study that prohibits this act of image worship. But I'll just mention one more. It is very important because it is one of the ten commandments written with the finger of God Himself in tablets of solid stone.

Exodus 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Not only God explicitly forbids us from the worship of images, but also gives us a reason, and that is because He alone is the Lord our God a jealous God, meaning that He doesn't share worship. That alone should convince us, but how can something convince you if it is not taught to you ? Let me show you what I mean.

The text on this image is taken from the vatican web page.
Under "Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church" 
Where you can clearly see that changes have been made to the law of God.

One important reason for not worshiping idols is that God knows that this act is not just bowing down do an lifeless image, He knows what really is behind this act of idolatry. God know that when we worship an image, ultimately is not the idol the one we worship, but demons ! Yes, let me give you just a few verses to confirm this,
Psalms 106:36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

Do you see ? The words idols and demons are interchangeable. It is the same.
But let me give you one more passage, from the new testament.
1 Corinthians 10:19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Again, the same teaching. When we sacrifice, worship or bow down to an image we do it to an demon! And Paul even mentions what we saw in the second commandment, that this act of idol worship makes God jealous.
So we can clearly see that bowing down to an image is demon worship.

The second concept touches a subject very well know in our days. So, let us take a look at another amazing message for our generation in this last command to "worship the creator".
Let me ask you a question first. Why do you think God is calling Himself "the creator" in this last message for humanity ? I'm sure you know that nothing in the bible is written just by chance. Why "the creator" ? Why not, worship the King ? Or the Savior, or our Redeemer or the Lord ?
Well, it is obvious that we serve a extremely wise God who knows the future ! He simply knew that humanity was going to FORGET its origins ! He knew that at the end times everyone, except His followers, were going to reject the idea of a intelligent designer, the "theory" of a CREATOR, and were going to implement the ridiculous theory of "EVILution". Teaching it to every child as soon as they are ready to learn. I don't want to spend much time on this subject trying to prove creationism over evilution. My main focus is on God's wisdom and knowledge of the future. Since this message addresses that issue specifically, and the message simply is : That we, and the whole universe, are created by God. We are not worthless products of mere chance, meaningless beings without more value than a pebble or a spec. We were created individually by a loving Creator, who loves us just like we are.

But recently a study was made by Gallup.com, in which only 46% of Americans believe in a literal creation and reject any kind of evolution. Not even half of the nation believes in a literal Adam and Eve. That is why God sends this message to the world, and chooses you and me to deliver it.



And the third concept is as important and serious as the last two. So the last question would be: How can I worship Him, is there a right or a wrong way to worship ? Or I can just worship him how ever I feel like it ?
Well, let's see what Jesus Himself said about this.
Matthew 15:8 ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.

That was a very direct statement ! We can't worship Him however we want.
There is a right way to do it, and it is written in
John 4:23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshippers.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

So, we see that our worship must be in spirit, truth, from our hearts and not following doctrines made by man.
Could it be that many sincere Christians are not worshiping in truth, but by doctrines made by man ?
Once again God knowing the future, foresaw a change, made by man, concerning our worship.
Let's take a closer look at the verse again, and we'll see what God wants us to remember.
Revelations 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Did you notice how God describes Himself as the creator? That is a quote from a text in the old testament ! And that quote takes us straight to the 10 commandments.
Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;
11 for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

Do you see ? Revelations 14:7 is quoting Exodus 20:11. That is so revealing ! God is ordering us to worship him and then He quotes the 4th commandment, the holy Sabbath.
And that should not surprise us at all, since both revelations 14 and exodus 20 inevitably takes us to
Genesis 2:2 On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work which he had created and made.

My dear readers, the message is very clear. Yahweh wants us to worship Him on His holy Sabbath day, the ONLY day He blessed, made holy and the one He rested in, the seventh day, our saturday.
If God put this concept in His last message to us, is because He really wants us to remember the Sabbath, just like the 4th commandment itself says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." He knew we would forget.
Think about this, God Himself rested on the Sabbath as an example for Adam end Eve and their descendants. He later  reminded this to Moses and wrote it in 2 tablets of stone with His own finger.
All the patriarchs kept it, the judges, the kings of Israel, and the prophets. Then Jesus Himself kept the sabbath

Luke 4:16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

Even the virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus kept the sabbath
Luke 23:54 It was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near.
55 The women, who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid.
56 They returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Then later Paul the apostle also kept the sabbath
Acts 17:2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
Acts 18:4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

But there is something even more revealing, we will keep the sabbath and worship God after Jesus' second coming in the new heavens and earth.
Isaiah 66:22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,” says Yahweh, “so your seed and your name shall remain.
23 It shall happen, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me,” says Yahweh.

From the creation of this earth, God's people worshiped on sabbath. In God's new creation we will worship on sabbath and everything in between, obviously must be the same. Because God doesn't change.
Malachi 3:6 “For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Now, some people think and argue that sabbath is Sunday and not Saturday. Well, I could give you many ways to prove that sabbath is Saturday and not Sunday, but I'll just let the bible say it.
We all know that Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday right ? That's why it's called "resurrection Sunday".
Well the bible says Sunday is the FIRST day of the week, not the seventh.
Mark 16:9 Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

First day of the week = Sunday
Now, few verses earlier, the bible says that the first day of the week (Sunday) comes AFTER sabbath.
Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.
2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

So we can clearly see that sabbath is Saturday not Sunday.
Webster dictionary online says:

Sat´ur`day
n.1.The seventh or last day of the week; the day following Friday and preceding Sunday.
Noun1.Saturday - the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians.

Sunday:
so called because this day was anciently dedicated to the sun, or to its worship. Webster's International Dictionary, 19th edition.

And by the way, in more that 100 languages the name for the seventh day of the week, which we call 'saturday' in many languages they call it SABBATH, as in spanish, portuguese, italian, polish, russian etc.
Ok, so if Jesus never changed it, and the disciples never changed it, and Yahweh never changed it. Then WHO did ?


Well let's read the "criminal's" own confessions:


The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine.(1957, p.50)
Q: What is the Third Commandment?
A: The Third Commandment is: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
Q: Which is the Sabbath day?
A: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.
Q: Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A: The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday, because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles on a Sunday...

The Catholic Mirror, official publication of James Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.
"The Catholic Church, ... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday."

Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3, 1947, p.9, art.
"To Tell You the Truth." "For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] Church outside the Bible."

Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society (1975), Chicago, Illinois.
"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday.
 We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concernintg mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.
"It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible."
http://www.icogsfg.org/confesns.html

Catechismus Romanus (1867)
It pleased the church of God that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to the Lord's day (Sunday). .
http://amazingdiscoveries.org/S-deception_end-time_Antichrist_Daniel_law_Sabbath

John Gilmary Shea, in the American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883.
"Protestantism, in discarding the authority of the [Roman Catholic] Church, has no good reason for its Sunday theory, and ought logically to keep Saturday as the Sabbath."-

Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, N.J. News of March 18, 1903.
"It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church."
http://babylonmysteryreligion.com/Quotes/Power%20to%20change%20God's%20Law.htm

These are just some of the many and many statements made by the catholic church throughout the centuries.
So, now that you know who made the change, and what the bible says about it, and what this last message in revelations 14 is telling us, What do you choose ?
Will you choose to worship only God, and not any other graven image ?
Will you remember God as our creator and reject evolution ?
Will you worship Him on sun-day, worshiped by pagans to their gods ?
Or saturday, the true Sabbath, kept by every patriarch, prophet, judge and king of the bible, even by Jesus, His mother, His disciples and Paul ?
The choice is yours, but as the bible says in
Joshua 24:15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

May the Lord bless you and guide you to make a decision, base on spirit and truth, not on doctrines made by man.  Have a great week :)